Buffalo Sabres head coach Dan Bylsma must feel like the showpiece of a traveling circus, with all of the juggling he’s had to do this season. Perpetual injuries have handcuffed the bench boss, whose young team is in desperate need of consistency.
While it is certainly true that all teams have injury issues, this bad bug is biting Buffalo hard. With 223 man-games lost to injury, Buffalo is second in the league – only Edmonton’s players have missed more games. Unfortunately, the injuries are occurring to key depth players
like Tyler Ennis and Zemgus Girgensons, not to mention the 40 games missed by Robin Lehner to start the season.
Things have gotten so bad for the team that Bylsma placed defenseman Jake McCabe on the fourth line wing for their game against Florida on February 9.
In the marathon that is the NHL season, injuries are sure to creep into every lineup, but it is especially damaging for the Sabres this season. With most of their NHL-ready players already in the starting lineup, and the team’s prospects in college or Juniors, there is a vacuum of depth that stretches down to their farm team in Rochester, who are having injury issues of their own – AHL standout and frequent call-up, Cal O’Reilly has missed time recently, and defensive prospect Chad Ruhwedel’s broken arm has kept him out of the lineup.
In a recent article written for the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Kevin Oklobzija lamented the predicament of the Sabres’ AHL afilliate, the Rochester Americans. He cited several things that need to change if the Rochester team is going to succeed. The problem is, though, that the Sabres do not have the depth to field an NHL team that is better than mediocre, and so they certainly don’t have the manpower to send a good AHL team onto the ice.
Constant injuries keep players like O’Reilly up with the big club, and the Amerks suffer similarly. GM Tim Murray attempted to address the lack of depth in Rochester, signing Matt Donovan and Jason Akeson this last summer, and the two have performed well, but just like the Sabres, a few stars can’t cover for the lack of a supporting cast.
The depth vacuum that is haunting both Buffalo and Rochester isn’t something that Murray is prepared to address immediately – he has his eyes set on the future. Murray recently spoke to reporters about his approach to the pending trade deadline. “This is the process. If I can acquire younger assets or future assets for some of our veterans, especially veterans on expiring contracts, I’m going to pursue that for sure.”
McGinn represents the type of depth the Sabres can’t lose. (Photo by Jeanine Leech/Icon Sportswire)
This is a damning statement for Sabres fans who were hoping for some relief at the trade deadline. Several important Buffalo players fall into this category, including Girgensons, who has finally been finding the net, and Jamie McGinn, who has been a fantastic comeback story.
McGinn came to Buffalo as a toss-in piece of the trade that brought Ryan O’Reilly to the Queen City, and the pair has rekindled the flame that helped the Avs go worst-to-first a few short seasons ago. The team certainly cannot afford to lose players like Girgensons and McGinn, much less to lose them for prospects that require further seasoning in the amateur ranks.
It would be unreasonable for Buffalo fans to expect Murray to adopt a ‘win now’ approach, especially when the team has a decent shot at another top five pick. That is not to say, though, that Murray would be remiss if he didn’t actively attempt to fill the holes left on the roster by his two seasons of vacating the veteran talent.
As the trade deadline approaches, both Rochester and Buffalo need Murray to bring in some depth, before the war of attrition is lost, and reasonable expectations along with it.
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